Mayor Karen Bass, on Oct. 8, touted her record on supporting Los Angeles’ migrant community while challenger Nithya Raman made a commitment to take further steps to address ongoing federal immigration raids.
Bass and Raman shared their plans on how they will support Los Angeles’ Hispanic community Thursday night in a televised forum focusing on homelessness, housing, affordability, public safety and other issues facing the city.
Bass highlighted how she issued executive directives to strengthen protections for immigrant communities by restricting the use of city resources for immigration enforcement and expanding coordination of legal services to support families facing detention or deportation.
The City Council and Bass approved an ordinance last week that codified one of Bass’ executive directives, which required police officers to turn on their body-worn cameras while responding to federal immigration enforcement actions.
More specifically, the ordinance required signage to be posted at city-owned lots or areas with open space and prohibits those properties from being used for staging, processing, or operations by immigration enforcement agents. City departments will need to physically secure their sites to restrict unauthorized access by federal agents to non-public areas of city facilities.
It also requires city contractors and bidders to disclose data-sharing agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
“Los Angeles was invaded by the federal government to persecute their own citizens,” Bass said. The incumbent emphasized the federal government can’t be using city- owned property for its staging operations.
Bass also touted her ability to make connections and partner with politicians across various levels of government. The incumbent even claimed she could call up President Donald Trump and discuss issues with him.
Meanwhile, Raman said she would be a mayor who champions immigrant rights. Raman emphasized that she is an immigrant too, who moved to the United States from India at 6 years old with her mother.
Raman criticized the federal government’s crackdown on immigrants in the country without legal permission. “I think the city could have done more to protect immigrants, and I will do more to protect them as mayor,” Raman said.
Raman, who represents the 4th Council District, criticized Bass for her response at the onset of federal immigration enforcement actions that occurred in June 2025. Raman said it seemed that Los Angeles Police Department officers were protecting federal agents versus helping L.A. residents and protesters, who were using their freedom of speech.
The two candidates answered questions as part of a separate 30-minute interview session during “Los Latinos Preguntan: Los Candidatos Responden” on N+ Univision 34 Los Angeles. About 15 to 20 members of the Hispanic community asked the candidates questions.
N+ Univision 34 anchors Gabriela Tessier and Octavio Valdez moderated the forum. The program streamed nationally on ViX’s N+ Univision 24/7 Los Angeles news channel and is available on N+ Univision 34’s digital platforms.
